As a former Supreme Court justice and public defender, I know that it is the job of lawyers and advocates to put public pressure on government to help the people they represent. It is, however, also their duty to represent the facts truthfully and without distortion. In the case of the transgender teenager who is in the York Correctional Institution for women in Niantic, the advocates are grossly misrepresenting the facts.

I asked the Juvenile Court to transfer the youth to the adult system with great reluctance and sadness. It was the only acceptable option to ensure the safety of the other youths for whom I am responsible. She has repeatedly, and over an extended period, assaulted girls and female staff members. Although I have compassion and concern for this youth, I must protect the other girls as well as the female staff members who care for them.

The incident that forced me to this decision — coming after more than a dozen other assaults on staff and peers — occurred at a Massachusetts program. The assaulted staff person suffered a concussion, an eye injury that temporarily impaired her sight, bites to her skull and arm, and bruises to her jaw, chest and arms. (The program and medical personnel originally reported that the staffer had a broken jaw.) The victim filed a police report, but chose not to pursue the case. Contrary to what has been said by the lawyers for the youth, the assault was very serious.

Another misperception is that the Department of Children and Families sought to place the transgender youth in the adult facility for males. Although the pertinent statute governing the transfer suggests that anatomy controls, we worked intensively with the Department of Correction to have her placed at the women's facility. The transition might even have been smoother had the youth been willing to work with us and the psychiatrists ready to treat her.

Much also has been made of the decision not to place the youth at Pueblo, the new program for girls on the campus of Solnit South in Middletown. That program opened last month and serves seven very vulnerable girls, one of whom is pregnant. It would have been irresponsible to endanger these girls and the female staff members by placing this youth, who has time and again targeted females, with them. Many of the girls in this unit have experienced equally horrible abuse and trauma and must feel safe and protected — not vulnerable to attack — if they are to receive the help they desperately need.

Finally, testimony before the legislature about the need for the girls program at Solnit is being distorted to suit the advocates. I never said this youth would be placed there, but only that the kind of behavior she exhibited — assaultive behavior and endangering other girls by encouraging them to run away — is illustrative of why we need such a program. I did not "use" her to accomplish that which I did not need permission to achieve — the conversion of a state hospital unit to a juvenile justice facility.

Had Pueblo been available two years ago, it may have been suitable for this youth's needs without jeopardizing others. Unfortunately, her behavior grew too dangerous to place her at Pueblo.

I am sad that this option was the best one available for this youth who, without question, suffered horrible abuse before she entered the care of the DCF in 2009, at the age of 12 (not at 5 as advocates claim). I hope that our efforts — we will be visiting her three times a week and coordinating therapeutic programming with the Correction Department — will quickly allow her to make progress in dealing with her traumatic past without resorting to violence. I look forward to the time when we can safely integrate her into a program designed for juveniles.

This youth unquestionably forces us to confront very serious matters facing the child welfare system in Connecticut and elsewhere. We can, however, only confront those issues with a truthful and honest discussion — not one that relies on distortions and misstatements — which I look forward to having.

Joette Katz is commissioner of the Department of Children and Families.

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